Sydney, Australia - Exciting City with Friendly People

Sydney is a long way from the USA--a 15 hour flight from the west coast--but it is an exciting cosmopolitan city with a spectacular harbor and friendly people. Sydney sits on the eastern coast of the most diverse continent in the world, filled with unique plant and animal life and miles of open spaces. Although Australia is about the size of the continental USA, it has only 20 million residents, of which 4 million live in Sydney.

Cruise ships visit Sydney year-round, with most ships sailing to Australia and the Southern Hemisphere in the months of November through March. The cruise ship pier is conveniently located near the south side of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

I flew to Sydney and joined the third segment of a world cruise on the Seven Seas Voyager. We had an overnight on the ship before sailing out of Sydney Harbour, which allowed a day and a half to explore the city on excursions or on our own. The spectacular harbor makes Sydney one of the best sail away ports in the world.

Here are some of the Sydney highlights.